6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Foreign | 100% |
Drama | 89% |
Romance | 38% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.32:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Music: LPCM 2.0
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (A, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This film is available as part of
Lubitsch in Berlin 1918-1921.
Ernst Lubitsch’s vaunted “touch” made him something of a rarity in Golden Age Hollywood, namely a star director in a town which more
typically tended to be all
about "real" stars (as in the kind up there on the silver screen). But what’s interesting about Lubitsch’s Hollywood career is that while it lasted
decades and
offered scores of films, when you get right down to it, the so-called “Lubitsch touch” might be best remembered for only a veritable handful of
outings
like Trouble in Paradise, Design for Living, Ninotchka, The Shop Around the
Corner and To Be or Not to Be. Now, it
perhaps goes without saying that with a handful like that, who really cares if not all of Lubitsch’s films have managed to penetrate into the
public consciousness, but for devoted cineastes with a taste in World Cinema, and in this case World Silent Cinema, this aggregation of
six silents Lubitsch made when he was still in Germany may be a bit revelatory, both in terms of subject matter but also in terms of what would
soon
enough become known as the “Lubitsch touch”.
Note: Eureka Entertainment provided check discs for the purposes of this review.
The Wildcat is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment's Masters of Cinema imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in
1.32:1. There are some introductory text cards detailing the fact that this was restored in 2000 off of a (the?) camera negative. Whatever restoration
efforts were undertaken have not eliminated pretty obvious and recurrent damage. There's a very long lasting scratch on the right side of the frame as
the film gets underway which later "travels" to the left side of the frame, where some intermittent flicker is also evident (general flicker frame wide is
also noticeable quite a bit of the time). This is another presentation that has some pretty noticeable horizontal scratching toward the top of the frame
at times. Maskings in this presentation are often fanciful, but white specks show up pretty regularly in the black part of the frame in these moments.
Detail levels on the whole are quite good, and some shots of printed words or even music scores look nicely precise.
All of the films in this set feature LPCM 2.0 renderings of musical underscore. Marco Dalpane's kind of carnival-esque sounding score comes through warmly and clearly throughout this problem free presentation.
While there are no supplements tied to individual films included with this set, Disc Three offers the following comprehensive documentary, which does get into at least some of the films and this general era of Lubitsch's life:
The Wildcat is in fact a pretty wild little enterprise, even if it ultimately gives in to a kind of unexpected conformity. Negri is really almost hypnotic in this film and the story is often intriguing on its own kind of gonzo merits. Video has age related obstacles, but audio is fine. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
Masters of Cinema
1920
Masters of Cinema
1920
I Don't Want to Be a Man / Masters of Cinema
1918
En lektion i kärlek
1954
La nuit américaine
1973
1987
Chaos
1984
L'amour en fuite
1979
Ieri, oggi, domani
1963
1987
La femme de l'aviateur
1981
Le Beau Mariage
1982
A Woman Is a Woman / Godard: The Essential Collection
1961
The Oyster Princess / Masters of Cinema
1919
Lo sceicco bianco / Vintage World Cinema
1952
Pauline à la plage
1983
Menschen am Sonntag
1930
BFI Flipside
1970
Domicile conjugal
1970
Aimer, boire et chanter / Masters of Cinema
2014